Proceedings of 10th IOE Graduate Conference

Peer Reviewed
ISSN: 2350-8914 (Online), 2350-8906 (Print)
Year: 2021 Month: October Volume: 10

Effect of Contemporary Urbanization on Historic Town Tokha

Sunita Shrestha a , Sudarshan Raj Tiwari b
a, b
Department of Architecture, Pulchowk Campus, IOE, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Corresponding Email: a [email protected]

Abstract
Traditional towns are developed for people in their natural mode of movement with an interplay of mass and
void. Mass represents the built structures like Buildings, Temples, Falcha, Sattal, etc whereas the space
represents streets(Tole), Nani, Chowks, Courtyard, Keba(private garden), religious and cultural nodes. Town
relatively large and permanent settlement having linkage with agriculture and history of its development shows
the history of mankind. Towns have been in a continuous transitional state since their evolution and its natural
process. Urbanization is a frequent and unavoidable phenomenon around the world, with development and
expansion helping many individuals and companies but also posing the risk of destroying historical places of
cultural significance. The consequences of urbanization on the built environment in the ancient town of Tokha
are investigated in this article. Historic cities are frequently targeted for fast urbanization, which is frequently
accompanied by changes to the built environment in historic areas. The study’s main goal was to figure out
how urbanization affected Tokha, a traditional town. To examine urbanization data from the ancient town of
Tokha, this study uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies under the constructivist/ interpretivist
paradigm. Our findings indicated distinct physical, economical, and socio-cultural urbanization causes that
resulted in observable and substantial changes in Tokha, a medieval town. These elements play an important
role in implementing the Local Development Plan (LDP) for Tokha’s sustainable urban expansion and cultural
preservation.
Keywords
Historic Town, Urbanization, Built Environment, Tokha

1. Introduction towns with distinct aesthetic, architectural, cultural,

and historical values are under threat from
Cities are a component of a broader society, and their urbanization. With a 1.35 percent annual growth rate,
spatial shape is inextricably linked to the society’s the total population of the country is 26,494,504. The
economic, social, cultural, political, and valley’s population is 1,208,238 people or 4.56
environmental structures. The history of the percent of the entire population of the country. In
development of cities in the history of humankind.The Nepal, the number of metropolitan cities with a
advent of modernism and large-scale rebuilding in the million or more inhabitants has risen from one in 2001
twentieth century prompted many towns to embrace to six in 2015[4], with ancient towns, in particular,
change by rejecting old design, building techniques, suffering fast urbanization without concern for
and materials in favor of more contemporary changes in their architectural heritage. The process of
ones[1].Commercial enterprises coming towards the urbanization within the valley is characterized by an
settlement centre lobbied for new architectural increase in population, shift of economic activities
interventions, assuming that older structures would be from agriculture to others, rural-urban migration, and
sacrificed[2].The replacement of ancient buildings Sprawl and haphazard development within the valley.
with new ones obliterated the city’s social and cultural These trends ultimately lead to the transformation of
core, as well as people’s sense of place and the physical, social and cultural setting of the cities as
identity[3]. well as smaller settlements causing haphazard growth.
Urbanization is rising at an unprecedented pace in
developing nations such as Nepal. Many heritage

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 Proceedings of 10th IOE Graduate Conference

1.1 Research Objectives: the roadway break up the monotony and adds
individuality to the area. Nodal spaces, roadways, and
To analyze the morphological, socio-economic, and
open courtyards were the three different forms of
cultural changes in the traditional town tokha.
public places. Traditional building design and form
To identify the cause and effect of urbanization in focused on creating space on the exterior rather than
tokha. on the inner. Outside the building, there are dalan,
fales or falechas, Patis and Sattals, Chowks and
Chukas, and so on[5].
2. Literature review

2.1 Urbanization 3. Methodology

Urbanization, the transformation of rural populations
The transformation ongoing in the traditional town
to urban populations, manifest in the increase of urban
due to pressure developed in the peripheral area
populations, the expansion of urban built-up areas,
eroding the traditional morphology and spatial system
and the creation of urban landscapes and
as well as limiting social interaction within the
environments and their associated social and lifestyle
community. Discussing about the transformation of
changes. The process of urbanization can be
Tokha seems to be a positivist paradigm with
determined by the change of economic activities from
quantitative methodology whereas the study of
agricultural to non-agricultural, rural to urban
traditional Town Tokha seems to be studied under
migration, change in settlement pattern, change in
interpretivist or constructivist paradigm with a
behavior and values of people and even change in a
qualitative methodology. As a result, both quantitative
physical environment with increasing modern
and qualitative methods were used in the investigation.
amenities and facilities. The pace of urbanization
To assess the traditional type of settlement, a
emerges both positive and negative effects. The
questionnaire survey was conducted at the site,
negative effects such as urban agglomeration(urban
coupled with direct field observation and interviews
sprawl), rapid depletion of natural resources,
with local residents. For the qualitative method,
encroaching of river plains, dreadful pollution of
historical photographs and maps were studied and
rivers, rapids and uncontrolled depletion of
compared with an existing situation to understand the
agricultural land into built-up areas, and many more.
change over time. Literature of the place was also
The urban population in Nepal increased from 17.1
studied to understand the socio-cultural aspects of a
percent in 2011 to 41.7 percent in 2015.
place.

2.2 Planning and Design of Traditional Town

4. Site Area
Traditional towns are the product of spontaneous
expansion over many centuries, with a focus on the The study area Tokha is located in the northern part of
placement of Gods and ceremonial events through Kathmandu and about 4KM north of the Ring road.
circulation. Traditional town ’zoning by jaat’ Tokha is presently located in Tokha Municipality,
supported the profession’s survival, limited intra-town wards 2 and 3, and spread across 7.2 Km Square.
migration (the idea of the workplace at home), and Tokha derives its name from two Newari words
permitted the establishment of localized (Tukhya), ”Tu,” meaning sugarcane (referring to the
”homogeneous communities.” Religious Rituals were production of chaku—a quintessential in Newari
therefore used to mediate town planning bylaws. sweets such as yomari—made from raw sugarcane
Individual aspects were given a balanced and full juice), and ”khya,” meaning field. The village of
cosmic picture, resulting in the inclusion of cult Tokha once had an abundance of sugarcane, and with
images in each Tole, which is mostly survived by the most of the raw materials for this delicacy available, it
common and powerful ones today, such as Nriteswora, became renowned for its chaku, as well[6]. The
Ganesh, or the Chaitya. Areas are designed on a history of Tokha dates back to the Licchavi period and
pedestrian size and include excellent community even beyond that. According to history, Tokha was
spaces that belong to communities rather than said to be ruled by King Dharmadutta at around 2960
individuals. Along with the consistency in building Sambat. King Dharmadutta was said to be very
height and texture, the narrowing and broadening of religious, courageous, and believed in fair justice. The

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Figure 2: Written Inscription of Tokha

Figure 1: Mu Dhoka now and then medieval times, such as King Jaya Dev’s attack on the
fort to plunder its riches. This is reflected in the
village’s geographical layout, particularly in the
then area of the Tokha was said to be very large and historic habitat on Tokha’s northern side, where the
the settlement extended to Sankhu and was termed as Taleju Temple sits. The Tokha court, which is now a
”Tinsaya Tokha Satsaya Phera” which explained the part of the Taleju Temple, was a significant player in
extent of its boundary. The inscription found in the many of the historical wars that took place here.
Tapa Lachhi(upper square) in the Chandeswori VDC Tokha has witnessed numerous political
of Tokha dates back to Licchavi Sambat 519 is during disputes—from political coups to serving as a refugee
the reign of Shivadev II and Amsuverma indicates the sanctuary for those exiled—play out throughout
historical glory of the area. It is very difficult to find history as a sought-after fort[8]. Tokha has also had a
the exact date of establishment of the settlement significant role in the history of commerce between
according to the inscription of Tapa Lachhi the Kathmandu and Tibet. The town was designed with a
settlement can be termed as 1423 years old. The distinct clear set of needs, objectives, and a real
terminologies like Tilmak meaning irrigation canal understanding of urban spaces. The settlement was
and Gulma meaning, a strongly fortified area planned with proper streets creating visually and
mentioned on the inscription explain that Tokha was socially effective squares focusing attention towards a
in itself a strong independent settlement with temple and putting a monument in just the right place
agricultural primacy[7]. During the Lichchhavi era, breaking the monotony in the built environment. The
Tokha hosted the country’s first central jail, which planning of traditional towns was not only
housed the country’s most notorious offenders. Tokha incorporated aesthetic but also social, cultural,
is mentioned in the Malla period chronicles as the functional, and even economic aspects effectively.
location where King Bhupalendra Malla, grandson of The ecological and cultural conservation were given
Pratap Malla, imprisoned his mother Queen Riddhi utmost consideration as there were resources allocated
Laxmi of Parthi Bendri for poisoning his father King in terms of gold, silver, land, or kind so that the
Prithidev Malla. Tokha is claimed to have served as a culture, tradition, and monuments could survive for
fort against invasions by neighboring monarchs in more years to come. The rules and regulations were

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between two brothers in which the odd number of the

opening cut down brutally making the building look
unpleasant both visually and functionally as shown in
fig.4.

Figure 4: Vertical division of Building(Undulating

skyline and cut down of Sanjhya)

Although, it spoiling the traditional ambiance, a social

system of transferring parental assets equally to
Figure 3: Tole in Tokha children and the transition from joint to the nuclear
family system have encouraged vertical division of
made based on religious context. In the present traditional building structures. And also, the addition
context, the traditional form is changing as the effect of floors to accommodate growing family size brings
of contemporary urbanization resulting a loss of a a change in space usage. Baiga (topmost floor) used
traditional ambiance. to be kitchen replaced by bedrooms and extension of
floor replacing sloping tiled roofs with flat terrace
built-in reinforced cement concrete which destroyed
5. Data collection and Analysis the uniform skyline of the building. Chidi (ground
floor), the place used for store or animal sheds or
Two hundred Sixty respondents were surveyed working place are now allocated for parking space or
through during the research with confidence level of shops.
95 percent and marginal error of 5 percent among the
total household of 804 in 1991. Table 1: Sample
Distribution for Perception Survey
Male Female Total
187 73 260

5.1 Transformation in Physical Form

Changes in the medieval town Tokha are marked by
new development (In-fill development) in and outside
the core area, vanishing and encroachment of public
structures and some ponds, drying of wells, dilapidated
Figure 5: Change in Building Materials
condition of water spout, and so on. The interplay
of mass and void in the core settlement is about to
no more in existence as Keba (private garden) has As shown in above fig.5, The transition from sun-dried
converted into mass (built-up) thereby reducing the to baked bricks, mud to cement mortar, brick exposed
open area. The changes in structure (building) can facades to cement plastered and whitewashed, and
be determined by the vertical division of houses. The tiled roofs to reinforced cement concrete flat slabs was
house is divided vertically along the main central wall gradual. RCC structure for more room space, more

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height and better light and ventilation somehow which residential use as the sample collected randomly in
cannot be obtained in traditional building and after the every tole of the core area. And about one-third of the
earthquake RCC structure seems to be a sustainable sampled household is of residential cum commercial
one. Although, it destroying the scale and continuity as almost all the buildings along the main road and
in traditional fabric. Most of the building types are certain buildings in Pukhusi area, Chwe Lachhi(upper
of the modern building as shown in the data below square) and Kwe Lachhi(lower square) are having
and few neo-classical designs are in trend after the shops on the ground floor changing the use of the
reconstruction of the building. Few of the building building. Few of the building along the main road is
is of traditional one which is in old dilapidated form of fully commercial activities and mixed-use as
and people have shifted in outside the core area to Sahakari office, shops, clinic, etc in one building.
their parental agricultural field developing new modern
The main reasons for the changes are either due to
houses.
changing lifestyle/ livelihood or simply because of
Table 2: Building Type insufficient rooms to accommodate the growing family
Description Total No.of Respondents needs and desire of them. During my interview with
Modern Bldg 230 the local people, the young generation does not find
Neo-classical Bldg 15 their traditional house to be suitable for living as they
Traditional Bldg 15 prefer much time to spend in their own house rather
Total 260 than to be in community space. In an earlier time,
people are more socialized and farming was the main
occupation due to which they stay in their house only
for short times, just to sleep and eat. They used to
spend most of their time on a farm or at community
open spaces like courtyard (falcha(pati), sattal, etc) for
gossiping with neighbors or to watch various outdoor
activities like Jatra to entertain themselves. As there
is no modern technology for entertaining so focus on
community life which results from no need of spacious
rooms and about having sufficient light and ventilation
Figure 6: Bar chart showing reasons for modern
thus developed houses in compact form. As a resulting
Building increment in the height of the building as shown in fig
8.
Previously, the building use is used to be for
residential purposes whereas the buildings along the
spinal cord (main road) of settlement used to be
residential with shops on the ground floor. But it
changed with the change of time as shown in fig 7.

Figure 8: Bar chart showing Height of the Building

In the traditional settlement, the religious structure

develop the bylaws for the surrounding building as
buildings could not be built higher than a nearby
Figure 7: Bar chart showing Use of Building in temple. However, the trend seems to be changed as
Tokha we can see the buildings higher than the surrounding
temple due to the modernization the religious practice
More than half of the sampled household is of is diminishing or been ignored. The height difference

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Figure 11: Changing built- form in Pukhusi area

open areas, which are necessary for quick rescue and

escape in the case of an earthquake, as well as
providing fresh air and sufficient light. The loss of the
Keba (green vegetable garden) also means the loss of
a source of income.
Figure 9: Temple and surrounding now and then in
Chwe Lachhi
5.2 Transformation in socio-economic
condition
between that of old traditional building and new
Traditional settlement form based on Jaat (according
modern building in the core area is shown in the
to caste) structure as high caste people in the square
below table. Table 3: Height Difference from Old
area and low caste people in the periphery area. As in
Building to New One
the context of tokha, social segregation cannot be
Description Number Percentage
seen, Kapali, Nakarmi and some Khadgi have houses
Yes 190 73
around the Chwe Lachhi(Upper square) area. The
No 70 27
main square area is surrounded by guthi houses.
Kapali houses at the back of Narayan and Mahadev
temple in Chwe Lachhi(Lower square) and Dangol at
the northern part of the Chwe Lachhi (Lower square)
area whereas Shrestha at the western part of
Lachhi(square). As in the context of Kwe
Lachhi(Lower square), the square is surrounded by
high caste people i.e. Shrestha, and followed by
Dangol at the periphery. The conventional
occupational basis was created to satisfy the
settlement’s demand and supply, and everyone in the
Figure 10: Bar Chart showing reasons of increase in society could find a place to fit in. At present, few
height of the Building people following their traditional occupation whereas
most of the people have changed their occupation.
The development of modern technology changing the Farming, the main occupation which is shifted by
lifestyle of the people which cannot be maintained in business, service, and others.
the traditional building so many people build a new
house after property division in their parental
5.3 Transformation in cultural practices
agricultural field changing the land use and sprawl
development in agricultural farmland. Densification Tokha, an ancient Newari town having its own culture,
inside the community is resulting in the loss of private tradition, and rituals somehow different from that of

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15000 for Kwe Gane Dyo which is not enough to

function festivals or maintenance of the religious
structure.

6. Discussions and Findings

Urbanization, developing new needs and desires

which lead to new development in the core area and
peripheral area causing the change in land use.
Figure 12: Bar chart showing Occupat Inadequacy of space in the Kul Ghar(house in core
area) due to vertical division of house conversing the
agricultural land into building parcels in piecemeal
approach resulting haphazard and unorganized
development. Vertical expansion of buildings along
with projected floors, including variations in plinth
height, floor height, and architecture style destroying
the volumetric definition and creating a chaotic
streetscape without any sense of place and identity.
The increased height of the buildings made the streets
and courtyards dark and damp by blocking the
Figure 13: Bar chart showing reasons for leaving sunlight and air circulation and changed the
farming community life. The sense of enclosure of the earlier
times has been converted into a sense of suffocation.
And the loss of Keba(private garden) resulted in a
Kathmandu. The community used to be quite vulnerable condition during the disaster. The change
tight-knit, with individuals working together on a in built form in the traditional settlement is due to a
variety of problems of common concern to the town change in lifestyle as the traditional buildings are not
(maintenance of common open spaces, falcha(Pati), able to cater to the modern needs and space to
waterspouts, well, etc, helping each other in the time accommodate the extended family size.
of distress, sharing resources for the welfare of the
In an agrarian society, people help each other
community). People have become increasingly
whenever they need. Mostly the help is provided
self-centered in recent years, and community life has
during the cultivation or harvesting in the field. With,
lost some of its meaning. Furthermore, certain local
decreasing landholding size of people, the people are
cultural traditions (songs, dance, theatre, and musical
getting less interested in agriculture. This has
instruments) have been changed by modernity
decreased the intimacy between the people and the
(contemporary songs, pop concerts, and dances),
mode of agricultural practice has changed from
while others have been forgotten. The concerned
mutual help to hiring laborers for farming. As labor is
authority focusing on the revival of the local cultural
getting expensive, agricultural practice can be
practices and some younger generations are following
unaffordable and uneconomical in near future. With
traditional culture, customs and participating actively
the effect of urbanization, the lifestyle of the locals is
in festivals. Guthi, the social organization which
changing. The mode of entertainment is changing
performs actively for preserving culture and tradition
from outdoor cultural activities to in-house activities
and is self-dependent as they have their source of
like watching tv, movies, etc. So, in the present
funds (land). The provision of guthi land transaction
condition, more internal space inside the house is
raised the endangered condition of culture as there is
desirable. People are inclined towards nuclear family
loss of income due to the sale of Guthi lands and
as it is seen that the extended joint family is gradually
members have to self-fund for performing the culture.
breaking into nuclear family. In that case, these
Due to which the culture is transforming. Guthi
people will be needing more land for housing units.
Sansthan provides certain fund for Chandeswari
Dyo(God) and Kwe Gane Dyo(God The loss of guthi revenue owing to the sale of guthi
Ganesh).Rs.28000 for Chandeswari Dyo and Rs. lands or the raikar parinat of guthi land into private

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hands is causing issues for festivals and cultural (IOE) and Prof. Dr Ajay Chandra Lal, coordinator
traditions. The close-knit communal structure and MSUrP Program; for his guidance and support
identity that were maintained via these rituals and throughout the project. The author also acknowledges
festivals are progressively dissolving as a result of the key person from the study area Ram lal
this. Shrestha,Ram Dangol,Krishna Dangol,Ganeshman
Shrestha and Bikash Shrestha for their cooperation in
research work.
7. Conclusion
The research concludes that lifestyle changes have a
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